Morgan Williams is on standby to fill in at the back for Coventry City for a second time as they prepare to face play-off chasing rivals Peterborough United.

Manager Mark Robins was forced to call upon the teenager on Tuesday night against Fleetwood Town when first choice centre-back Jordan Willis was ruled out with a recurring knee injury as fellow senior Dom Hyam continued to be sidelined with the injuries and effects of a serious car accident.

The 19-year-old came through with flying colours, earning rave reviews for the way he handled himself against experienced strikers Paddy Madden and Ched Evans in the 2-1 Ricoh Arena win.

Asked for an update on both senior defenders who have been the main central defensive partnership for City this season, the Sky Blues boss said: “It’s a case of as you were.

Morgan Williams on his league debut for the Sky Blues could be called upon again this weekend

“They are getting closer but it’s difficult to see them playing a part and the game may come too soon for both of them.

“But I will know a little bit more today. I will give them every chance.”

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As for Willis, he added: “We have to wait and see. It’s an injury that happens with him now and again.

“He’s had the problem two or three times this year; the last time being when he came out of the warm-up at Plymouth.

“He wants to play and be back in quickly but we have got to be sensible with it and what happened at Plymouth has to be a consideration.”

So is Williams in line to make his second league appearance for the club?

“Morgan did really well the other night," said Robins.

Could David Meyler be used as an emergency centre-half at Peterborough this weekend?

“He should be proud of his performance and I expect him to be pushing for another game, and I’d be disappointed if he wasn’t.

“His performance was combative and typical of what he produces. He found it tough physically and was tired towards the end but he’ll be training today and I imagine the exuberance of youth will be back.”

Robins has other options, of course, not least using Jack Grimmer as an emergency centre-half.

And with midfielder Liam Kelly available again after missing Tuesday night’s match due to being stuck in traffic, the experienced David Meyler could also fill in at the back alongside Tom Davies.

The Reading loan man did a fine job helping City defend their box against the aerial onslaught thrown at them by Fleetwood this week, and could clearly do a job at centre-back if called upon.

Asked if he was tempted to play Grimmer at centre-back on Tuesday night – the full-back going on for the last seven minutes when Williams had to go off with a knock and cramp, Robins said: “I could have done that but Jack’s a right-back.

Jack Grimmer filled in at centre-back when Morgan Williams had to go off late in the game against Fleetwood

“He’s played at centre-half before but we have got centre-halves there and we know we have to bring them on, and I want to do that because it’s healthy for the club.

“And it underlines where we are and what we’re about as a club, trying to give young players opportunities. And our productivity in that area, I would wager, is better than any other.”

He added: “We have got Jordon Thompson who would really have been ahead of Morgan but he’s been injured with a hamstring problem for a while, so someone else ends up getting an opportunity.

“But it underlines what this club is about and there are a lot of players there who have to earn the right to go in and will sometimes get an opportunity to go in because their performances have been good enough in the Under-23s and training with us as well.”

Meanwhile, striker Conor Chaplin made some progress this week but is not expected to be available for Saturday’s trip top London Road.

Conor Chaplin (centre) is back on the grass but won't be fit enough to face Peterborough.

“I’m waiting for him to recover from his ankle injury,” said the manager.

“He’s back on the grass today but it’s frustrating because you want them to be back quickly.

“Bodies recover at different rates and while I want everyone available for this last push we don’t live in an ideal world.”

That means fellow striker Jordan Ponticelli and winger Charlie Wakefield should be on the bench again, although Robins admits neither are 100 per cent after recovering from their respective foot and hamstring injuries.

“Tuesday was too early for him, as it was Wakefield,” he said.

Jordan Ponticelli is back on the Sky Blues bench but not yet fit enough to push for a start.

“But I don’t have the time so I had to take a bit of a risk, not with fitness or health or anything like that but just take a risk because they are not quite there yet.

“JP has worked his socks off to get himself in a position to be involved and I was maybe looking to use him for ten minutes should we have needed him.

“But as we saw with Wakefield when he went on, he blew up quickly because the energy that you need is immense and he just didn’t have it there.

“That’s about getting the cobwebs out and making sure he’s back up to speed as quickly as he can.”